PredaPrey
by if.the.plane.goes.down
Summary: Run away. Run away. I'll attack. Run away. Run away. Go chase yourself.


_He is nothing but his heartbeat, now._

_The fragile erratic pace. Racing. It would throb in his ears if he had those left. It would fill his throat with the sour taste of bile if he had that left. But he doesn't. He's just a floating ball of a pulse bound by the wispy ligaments of that pumping muscle._

_Ba-boom……..Ba-boom…… Ba-boom._

Sightless. Peerless. Soundless. Fearless.

The rest of him no longer human.

He likes it this way. Has submitted to the wild. He feels natural. This is natural. The animalistic hunch of his shoulders. The intensity boiling in his gut. Epinephrine. It is ecstasy.

It's an almost scary thing to feel. Made even more so because he doesn't like to acknowledge that he can still feel fear. Or anything at all for that matter.

He moves low to the ground., a lion-snake. The wide warm roots of the forest floor tangle and dance beneath him , anchors that he grips firmly to pull himself along. Slowly. Swiftly. Snails pace. Cheetah. He can feel his heart pulsing even in his fingertips. Each one of them sinking down into the full earth beneath him.

He searches for it's pulse. He tries to listen to it. To listen. He's often reprimanded for not listening. But though he strains his ears the earth says nothing to him. He listens but it doesn't speak. It remains tight lipped. Stubborn.

_Ba-boom.……Ba-boom……. Ba-boom._

Which puts him in a bad way. Because he can't see anything either. The darkness surrounding him is so thick and complete and heavy, that he can feel it pressing down like a collapsing roof top on his shoulders and the back of his head and neck. A blue-black coffin interrupted only by the giant mastiff like trees floating thick up, up, up above his head. Their black waxy leaves blend into the starless ink-black sky. So that he is running inside an orb of absolute black. There is a moist ebony chill in the air.

_Ba-boom….. Ba-boom…….Ba-boom. _

Keep moving.

Blindly, deafly moving. Throwing his hands out in front of him first as he moves. To gauge the pathway. Pressing and pushing his way through the suffocating darkness. The one thing that compels him to keep moving indefinitely, is the crunching noise that rings out clearly and loudly every now and then behind him, before slinking away back into the dark silence.

The noise he always recognizes as the footsteps of his pursuer. The devastating creature hunting him. Stalking him. Watching his every move. Biding his time.

In his mind he creates images and pastes them to the face of the stalking monster. Leering. Evil. Toothy. Ugly. Gruesome. He has to keep moving. Although his belly is a basket with the bottom torn out, empty and longing. And his knees are starting to sing a swan song . Pleading with his chest tirelessly burning for air.

Something just barely brushes his shoulder from behind. Nevertheless he recognizes it as the subtle sting of a kunai. And as the blood begins to creep from his shoulder he stupidly stops moving and whirls around gaping unsteadily into the darkness.

And just catches a glimpse of something astonishingly orange darting away into the blackdrop of the trees.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

_**Ba-boom!Ba-boom!Ba-boom!**_

He takes off in the opposite direction. Hobbling forward on his whining joints. Tearing through the darkening wood. And the oblong black formations tear back. Hung low branches pick his face apart, while the scraggly fingers of possesive trees reach for his body.

The forest floor is alive. He ducks and dodges gaspingstumblingshoving. And the earth moves beneath him. And he can just make out the shiny silver body a tight glittering coil amongst all the black. And the two off white-yellow eyes. But it's too late.

He trips. His feet tangled in the soft belly, and pitches forward waving his arms frantically as he goes down. Lips parted in silent shock. A scream that doesn't exactly make it out. And now the soil speaks, laughing dust plumes into his mouth. A groan escapes his broken ribs, and he manages to move his arm just enough so that he can turn over onto his back. He props himself up on his elbows long enough to glare pointedly at the silver snake, until narrowing it's off white-yellow eyes defiantly it slithers away.

Then he collapses back into the dank mud again. And even though he knows that he should get back up and move he doesn't.

_I've had it. I'm done. If he wants me let him come find me._

_He thinks bitterly. Then he resigns himself to doing nothing. He does nothing but lie there staring up through the trees at the chalky white pinpricks of light appearing in the sky and breathing. He lies with his arms outstretched, crucified. And his legs spread, pain buzzing up and down his tired calf muscles. His entire body buzzes with a sort of hypnotic numbness. And it makes him close his eyes._

_He can't bring himself to move. A sudden breeze blows his tranquil body, and he notices a fresh well of sweat has sprung up on his forehead. It's cold and frothy. It drips down into his eyes and further down against the lining of his mask. But his hand won't listen when he tells it to wipe the stuff away. He listens for the crunching sound in the distance. He sighs so deeply, there is no air left to inhale back in again._

_He presses his eyes shut until he dreams of creamy bowl shaped legs and feminine breath against his cheek, and a soft handed touch._

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

_He doesn't make a move._

_And one moment he's lying there on his back staring into the nothing behind his eyelids contentedly trying to breathe and may'be even fantasizing a little bit. And then the next moment he has the cold hungry mouth of a kunai gnawing at his neck, and the heavy pressure of someone straddling his body pressing down on him. And the dirty louse presses the blade in just deep enough to draw a thin stringy line of blood. Which stings, but he doesn't show it. Nor make mention of it. He doesn't even open his eyes._

_And he knows without seeing that the dark haired boy on top of him will be leaning into his face triumphantly with a tight grip on the kunai, his eyes shining smugly under their orange protective lenses._

_The fiend holds the kunai there a moment longer as if waiting for something special to take place. And he listens to the wind whistling past them with his eyes closed. The blade digs it's anxious teeth in a centimeter deeper as if to make a point, before the boy retracts it completely, his voice coming out both breathy and pouty._

"_You do know that if this was a real ninja mission and I was really hunting you I wouldn't have hesitated for a second with this kunai at your throat . I would have slit you wide open .Gutted you like a fish ,you do know that right?"_

_And only because he knows that it will further aggravate the boy he still doesn't open his eyes when he replies_

"_Yep."_

_Obito waits as if expecting him to say more. And when he doesn't Kakashi can hear the faint rustling of the boy's deft movements. Probably more from aggravation than uneasiness. He snaps_

"_Freaking robot."_

_He chooses not to answer this. Opening his eyes instead. Obito is leaning over him scowling so deeply that it almost makes him laugh out loud. The other boy's face is just as dirty and sweaty as his must be but seeing the frown ,so full of dislike, hanging from behind the wall of orange he feels a rush of superiority. It makes him want to laugh. He only allows himself a smirk, however._

"_What's so funny moron?" Obito quips scowling even deeper._

_He can instantly think of plenty retorts to say to this. Including the fact that nobody says moron anymore. But he finally decides on saying simply_

"_You look ridiculous."_

"_And you look like a pussy lying underneath me like this." the boy counters back quickly and sharply. Kakashi shrugs. And Obito sighs exasperated. Making a show of looking left and right and then back left again he says finally "Get up before somebody sees us and gets the wrong idea."_

_Then he climbs off and stands up holding out his hand a pale white glowstick in the dark. And Kakashi gives in and takes it though only half allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. He brushes stray leaves and twigs from himself as best he can, then the two boys walk together over to a large tree and slump down, resting their aching bodies against the large firm trunk._

_Obito gives an exaggerated sigh, before reaching into his coat and producing a long necked plastic bottle of water. Kakashi eyes the thing, his throat burning briefly with desire, then quickly forgetting his stoic composure he mumbles "Got any more of those?"_

"_Course I do, loser." Obito obliges pulling out another bottle and tossing it into the silver haired boy's lap, a satisfied smile on his face. Kakashi clenches his ruddy hand around the almost cold bottle, silently cursing himself for not thinking resourcefully. The last thing he wants is to owe Obito anything. "This doesn't mean anything you know." he makes himself say, stalling ferociously over the bottle, clenching and unclenching it in his fist._

"_Yeah, I know. And you're not welcome either." Obito says gruffly. Kakashi nods satisfied. After that they're silent. Both uncapping their bottles. Kakashi peels down his mask too tired and thirsty to care if Obito sees anything. And he can feel Obito's sly inquisitive stare on the side of his face as he puts the bottle to his lips. He tilts his head back and tastes. Letting it fill his mouth just a little at a time. Savoring each individual drop. It has to be the best thing he's ever tasted. Silently he praises whoever invented ice cold water. Oh yeah, God, right? Content. _

_And for a few minutes he listens oddly serene to the only sound between them, both of them furiously sucking at their bottles. Obito finishes his first, and wipes his coat sleeve against his mouth in satisfaction before tossing the empty bottle over his shoulder into the dark beyond._

"_You just littered."_

"_Mercy forbid."_

_Obito reaches underneath the rim of his orange lenses and wipes dried sweat from around his eyes. He stands up eyeing Kakashi who finishes swallowing the last of his water and then pulls himself up too._

"_We should head back." he says scratching almost timidly at his silver mane, his own water bottle clutched like a precious trinket in his fist. "Sensei might wander where we've gotten off to."_

"_Yadayadaya." Obito retorts with a wave of his hand, but both boys begin the walk in the direction of the village Obito yawning aggressively. They often escape like this together, to challenge each other away from reprimanding eyes. And it's not that their sensei would punish them for it. Sincerely they don't know what he might do, so it's best just to never be caught._

_They walk side by side each one not willing to let the other get ahead of him. Even though Kakashi's knee has swelled to the size of a watermelon, and Obito's lung wheeze as if they're tuberculosis infected. All of a sudden Obito says clearly cutting through the quiet "I think I won this one." A smile trembling in his voice and on his face._

_Kakashi doesn't take the bait simply stares off into the trees and away from Obito's open honest wide grinning like an idiot. He looks off into the dark and feels suddenly that it doesn't seem so complete when there's someone else walking beside him. This thought irritates him._

"_I was tired. I let you find me. Don't let it get to your head and fester in all that empty space." he mumbles just loud enough for Obito to hear._

"_Whatever, man!" Obito thunders, suddenly animated. He skips ahead and turns so that he's facing his companion arms confidently crossed behind his head, walking backwards. "I was dipping and dodging and parrying like I had jungle fever through those forest trees! I would have caught you regardless, so save your stuffy old excuses!" he exclaims throwing his arms up._

_He spins away from Kakashi suddenly then arms outstretched face tilted up to the moon. Laughing. An olden day moon worshipper and Kakashi can see the stars reflecting down into his eyes and glinting off of his teeth when he smiles at him saying "I won't tell anyone I whooped you though. Promise."_

_At this Kakashi can't help but to smirk. Which is really a record for him. Two small signs of joy in the span of one day. And he only mumbles a "Thank you." because he knows that Obito spinning uninhibited out of control, is too busy tripping over a tree root to hear him._


End file.
